The Central Bank of Kosovo is the country’s central bank. What does being a central bank mean? Most independent countries have their own central bank. The main characteristics of a central bank is that they are the banker to the government and to the commercial banks, they manage the country’s supply of currency, they implement monetary policy and they play a major role in the country’s payments system.

Some central banks, including the Central Bank of Kosovo, also carry out other important functions such as financial market supervision and the management of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. But not all central banks have these roles.

For more see attachment below:

The current Central Bank Law was approved in 2010. The Law establishes the CBK as a separate legal entity. The CBK also has operational and administrative independence. It is not a part of the Kosovo Civil Service even though it is fully owned by the Government of Kosovo. The members of its decision-making bodies, the Governing Board of the CBK and the Executive Board, should not receive or seek any instruction from the government or anybody else in carrying out their responsibilities.

Mission of the CBK:  the CBK’s Mission set out in its Strategic Plan is:

-          To safeguard financial and monetary stability in Kosovo;

-          To provide effective payments systems and the supply of cash;

-          To provide economic advice to the Government and other public entities; and

-          To contribute to the long-term sustainable development of Kosovo through financial market development.

Strategic Vision of the CBK: the strategic visions of the CBK are to make a distinctive and valuable contribution to the sustainability and development of the financial sector in Kosovo, to be among the most efficient and effective central banks in the region and to contribute to the processes for Kosovo to become a fully-fledged member of the EU and other international organizations. Operationally, the CBK strives for the highest level of excellence, competence, integrity, efficiency and transparency in all its operations and activities.

Functions of the CBK:  as is often the case in relatively small countries, the CBK has a wide range of functions. The main ones are:

-          To foster and maintain a stable financial system;

-          To act as banker to the commercial banks, the Ministry of Finance and the Economy and other public sector and international agencies;

-          To implement monetary policy in Kosovo, primarily through influencing the amount of credit created;

-          To ensure an adequate supply and quality of bank notes and coins in Kosovo;

-          To regulate and operate non-cash payments systems;

-          To license, supervise and regulate a wide range of financial institutions;

-          To manage the country’s foreign exchange reserves;

-          To act as fiscal agent to the Government;

-          To prepare and publish statistics and to conduct and publish economic analysis of the Kosovo economy.

This article will briefly describe and explain all of these functions except for the functions of financial market supervision and financial stability. These important functions will be covered in a separate article.

The CBK as banker: the Central Bank of Kosovo does operate as a bank but it does not open bank accounts for citizens and companies so it is not like a commercial bank. The CBK’s banking customers are the commercial banks and other financial institutions operating in Kosovo, the Government of Kosovo and other Kosovo public sector agencies and foreign financial institutions and governments.  The total deposits held at the CBK by these customers is currently around 285,856,980.70 million Euro.

The Financial System is the most important sector in a country's economy. Banks are considered to be the main financial institutions operating in the financial system, mainly due to the wide range of products and services they offer.

There are 11 commercial banks operating in Kosovo.

The Full List of Banks and contact addresses can be found here: banks' contacts can be found here

The Effective Interest Rate (EIR) is a measure that consumers should understand and look at closely when they are negotiating a loan or deposit contract with a bank or micro-credit organization. It gives them the best measure of the real cost to them of a proposed loan or the real return they will get on a deposit.

It is the best interest rate to use when they want to compare different types of loans or deposits or loans or deposits from different banks.

It gives them the best measure of the real cost to them of a proposed loan or the real return they will get on a deposit.

The Effective Interest Rate - measures the cost to a borrower or the return to a depositor after all fees and costs related to a loan or a deposit are included in the calculation of the interest rate. For more download brochure.

Being a Guarantor: What does it mean and what are the risks? 

Guarantors are used quite frequently by banks and microcredit organizations in Kosovo. Being a guarantor for another person can be a very helpful thing to do for the other person as it could be the difference between their application for a loan being approved or declined. But there are many major risks involved in being a guarantor and it is important that people understand these risks and feel they can manage them BEFORE they agree to be a guarantor. This article describes the key features of guarantees and the risks a person takes on by signing a guarantee.

Some people think signing a guarantee is just a formality – a simple and riskless way to help a friend or colleague by giving them a character reference. It is much more than that – you become responsible for their debt if they fail to meet their obligations. For more download brochure.

What is good to know before you get a Loan?

What is a Loan, What Kind of Loan?

Types of a Loan, Which bank?

The Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF) is a local, independent, sustainable credit guarantee facility issuing portfolio loan guarantees to financial institutions to cover up to 50% of the risk for loans to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The KCGF was established in January 2016 under the Law on the Establishment of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund. The aim of the KCGF is to support the private sector in Kosovo by increased access to finance for MSMEs, thereby creating jobs, increasing local production, improving the trade balance and enhancing opportunities for underserved economic sectors.

The establishing Law of the KCGF was initiated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and its development was supported by USAID Kosovo, through the EMPOWER Credit Support (ECS) Program. The Law entered into force on January 23, 2016. For more information on KCGF, please refer to: http://www.fondikgk.org/en/Home

Deposit Insurance Fund of Kosovo (DIFK) is an independent institution established with the objective to protect small depositors from loss in the case of license revocation and closure of a bank, as well as to support the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo in meeting its objective to faster the soundness, solvency and efficient functioning of a stable, market-based financial system.

In general, a deposit means a sum of money paid by a depositor to a bank on the condition that it is to be repaid in full by the bank, with or without interest, either on demand or at an agreed time, under the legal and contractual conditions applicable.

Typical deposit products of the banks that are insured by DIFK are sight deposits (current accounts), savings deposits and time deposits.

Actually, depositors are insured, per member bank, up to the insured amount of: €5,000

A depositor shall have its deposit accounts insured in all banks that are member of DIFK up to the maximum insured amount of €5,000 (euro). For example: An insured depositor having accounts in two member banks (e.g. bank A and bank B) has its deposits insured in those two banks, respectively in bank A: up to €5,000 (euro); and in bank B: up to €5,000 (euro). See Depositor's Information Leaflet on Deposit Insurance.

For more information on DIFK, please refer to  http://www.fsdk.org/en/

The currency used in Kosovo is the Euro

Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo is responsible for maintaining an appropriate supply of Euro banknotes and coins for the execution of cash transactions in the economy. Since Euro is the main currency permitted to be used in Kosovo, the CBK responsibilities with respect to operations and cash management are related to Euro in first place.

More on the currency circulation in Kosovo: https://env2.bqk-kos.org/?id=27

History of Insurance
Insurance in some forms and ways dates since the ancient era.
Initial forms of INSURANCE are noted in early people communities within tribes and later in families. For more download the article below.

Taking insurance is a process by which a person, called the policy-holder passes on a risk of loss that they would like to avoid to an insurance company in return for a payment, called an insurance premium.  People use insurance to guard against the risk of a possible, but uncertain, loss. A policy-holder takes on a known cost (the premium) in return for the insurance company contracting to cover larger costs should a specified adverse event occur. For more download brochure.

Types of insurance: there are many different types of insurance. People can insure against almost any potential risk – at a price. But the following are the four main types of insurance that most people would consider taking and the main risk that is being insured against for each one.

Type of insurance:
-Life insurance
-Motor insurance
-Property insurance   
-Accident and Health insurance  

Type of risk being covered:
-Early death
-Accident or theft
-Fire or other property damage
-In case of Illness and personal accident

Regulation of the Pension System

Based on Law No. 04/L-101 on Pension Funds of Kosovo, the pension system in Kosovo is divided into three pillars:

First pillar: The Basic Pension is a pension paid by the Pension Administration (within the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare) to all permanent residents of Kosovo who have reached the pension age.

Second pillar: Individual Savings Pensions provided by the Kosovo Pension Savings Trust. The Pension Savings Trust was established with the sole and exclusive purpose of administering and managing individual accounts for savings-based pensions.

Based on the current Law No. 04/L-101 on Pension Funds of Kosovo, each employer shall contribute on behalf of its employees to the KPST, while the employee shall contribute on his/her behalf.

Third pillar: Supplementary Employer Pension Funds, Supplementary Individual Funds

The first two pillars are mandatory pensions, i.e. the Basic Pensions provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Individual Savings Pensions provided by the Kosovo Pension Savings Trust.

Under the third pillar, the Supplementary Employer Pension Funds and the Supplementary Individual Funds are voluntary funds where employers can provide supplementary pensions for their employees, but also individuals may provide supplementary individual pensions through supplementary individual pensions.

The funds cannot be withdrawn until the pension age, and the pension age is 65.

More detailed information about each pension pillar in Kosovo can be found in the Law on Pension Funds of Kosovo.